Our Farewell
by MoonyAddict
Summary: [MAJOR DEATHLY HALLOWS SPOILERS] Tonks' words to her son, nineteen years after she and Remus died.


_In my hands  
A legacy of memories  
I can hear you say my name_

Don't cry, Teddy. Mum and Dad are here, even if you can't see us, we're here beside you, we've always been, all along. You're a big boy now, smart and skillful as I knew you would be; you're handsome and brave like your father, his living clone, and I'm so proud of you – we both are, Dad and I – of everything you've become, everything you've done.

You have a big heart, son, and I know how hard it has been for you to live your life alone. I know you had Grandma Andromeda watching after you, and Harry, too, taking care of you, making sure you would never feel lonely and foresaken as he had so often felt without Lily and James. But you lived happily, and I'm glad you've found your way through this life that has been so unfair to you, even before you were born.

Dad and I loved you more than our own lives – we still do – and if we aren't there to hug you now, now that you're silently calling out for us, now that you need your parents' comfort, it is only because we wanted to give you a future where the war would be only a sad, distant memory.

Dad and I died so that you could be the wonderful young man you are now, and it was worth it, Teddy. I know you're angry, because all your friends have their parents by their side, today, but I swear that I would give my life again, one million times, if it was necessary. Dad and I died for you, for your sake, honey, and there's never been a single, brief moment of regret.

It was worth it. It was worth it all.

_I can almost see your smile  
Feel the warmth of your embrace  
But there is nothing but silence now  
Around the one I loved  
Is this our farewell?_

There is bitterness in the way you look around yourself, almost wishing you weren't there, lost among those happy faces you can't really share. They smile at you, they all love you, but the only two people you wish were with you, will never come. We were stolen from you too soon, and you can't imagine now how I felt when that flash of green light hit me, ninteen years ago. I saw your father die, I was already dead inside, but I kept fighting, I kept hoping, because you were alive and safe, and you deserved to grow up in a serene world. When I exhaled my last breath, all my prayers were for you, for my beautiful son who would make me and my beloved husband immortal.

We're both living in you, dear.

_Sweet darling you worry too much, my child  
See the sadness in your eyes  
You are not alone in life  
Although you might think that you are_

I wish you could remember, Teddy, how Dad and I cried of happiness when you were laid into our arms for the first time.

You see, our story had always been hard and complicated, so full of obstacles and pain, so scarred and bleeding ever since the beginning, but in the very moment Remus and I saw you, we knew nothing was lost. We had created a life, we had a power that the Dark Lord could never have. We had our love, the strongest feeling, the strongest weapon in this world. Our love for each other, and for you.

We never left you, I want you to know. Every single day of your life, Dad and I have been there.

_Never thought  
This day would come so soon  
We had no time to say goodbye  
How can the world just carry on?  
I feel so lost when you are not by my side_

And we miss you every day, we wish we could tell you, now, all the things we never got a chance to tell you, or say again what we told you when you were only a newborn. There is Daddy's Pensieve in your room, and we know how often you dive in it to see how it was, how things used to be before we were gone. You like to bask in the sight of yourself as a baby, cuddled into Dad's arms as he sang a lullaby to you, you like to see me kiss your soft temple as I rocked you and fed you, with that loving light in my eyes, that watched you as though you were a miracle materialised in my embrace. A miracle because the fear you could be a werewolf vanished as soon as we saw you, because you were just a baby like any other, and this made your Daddy happier than anything else. He always says you would have made an excellent Marauder, sharp and brilliant as you are, and Sirius and James would have been crazy for you.

And you are truly a miracle, Teddy, you really are. Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks' little miracle.

_But there's nothing but silence now  
Around the one I loved  
Is this our farewell?_

We'll meet again, one distant day, son, and that day we'll be what in my dreams should have been. We'll start over again, and I'll be able to scold you for stealing cookies from the jar, and scold your Dad for giving you Chocolate Frogs against my orders, and I'll watch you do your homework in the sitting room, and Dad and I will help you, even if you won't really need us to, just because it's what parents do with their kids. I will burn your birthday cake and get a kiss from your father because that's why he loves me, I'll stare at you in delight, Remus' arm on my shoulders, proud-looking like me, as you open your presents and find out we got you the broomstick you've always wished.

I'll kiss you goodnight everyday, and Dad and I will always remind you how much we love you, how much you mean to us.

You were the whole world for the both of us, Teddy, and we know you're aware of this. So don't cry, today, if everyone has a family to hug and you don't, because everyone of them loves you like a son of their own, like a brother of their own, and Daddy and I are happy, because your life will be wonderful and full of joy, even without us.

We see you look out for Victoire, and when she casts herself into your arms, it's like seeing a portrait of ourselves in the two of you, of the deep feelings that still bind us, and forever will. We can see the hope in your eyes, the hope you can see in her, and we're not worried for you, because there's no need to.

So be happy, and never be afraid to be alone. We will be with you forever.

_So sorry your world is tumbling down  
I will watch you through these nights  
Rest your head and go to sleep  
Because my child, this not our farewell  
This is not our farewell_

We love you, Teddy, and nothing in the world will ever make us regret our sacrifice. Never forget this.

Forever yours,

Mum and Dad.

* * *

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**A/N:** So, I really had to write this, and Merlin knows how I cried, both in reading that horrible book (what a huge disappointment, really!) and writing this story. After this little exorcism, I'll go back into my safe world of denial, where the beautiful Harry Potter series stopped with the sixth book and this bunch of sheer shite never existed. Thanks in advance to everyone who will review, this is the first and last story I write for Harry Potter and The Deathly _Horrors_. Song: Our Farewell, by Within Temptation (gorgeously heartbreaking is an impressive understatment).


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